Ateneo Confucius Institute hosts 2025 ASEAN Local Chinese Teachers Capacity Building Training Camp

In partnership with the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), the Ateneo Confucius Institute, and Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) successfully held the 2025 ASEAN Local Chinese Teachers Capacity Building Training Camp on 29–30 September 2025.

The two-day training camp gathered Chinese language teachers for intensive training designed to strengthen teaching skills and professional growth. The program focused on three main objectives: helping teachers master the "Standards for Professional Competence of International Chinese Language Teachers" and apply them in classroom practice; enhancing classroom management, activity design, and effective textbook use to address the needs of diverse learners; and cultivating professional development while promoting the use of local Chinese teaching resources.

In his opening remarks, Mr Cris Gilbert Garcia, Director of the Ateneo Confucius Institute, highlighted the growing role of non-Chinese teachers in Chinese language education, noting their increasing proficiency and valuable contributions to the field. He hopes the training camp would equip teachers with international standards, stronger classroom practices, and continuous professional development, while also fostering collaboration and exchange among educators. Grateful to the experts from his alma mater, BLCU, he encouraged teachers to inspire students to use Chinese not only for academic and career growth but also to build meaningful connections and bridge cultures.

Held at the Institute’s Makati office, 34 participants from various schools across the Philippines engaged in a series of lectures from professors from BLCU. 

Among the lecturers was Prof. Wen Ting of BLCU, who focused on the Interpretation of the Professional Standards for International Chinese Teachers (PSICT) and the importance of teaching reflection under this framework. 

Assoc. Prof. Jin Haiyue then discussed practical approaches to teaching pronunciation and grammar within the PSICT framework. 

Finally, Mr Chang delivered lectures on teaching language skills and presented case analyses, also anchored on the PSICT.

After the lectures, the speakers joined a panel discussion where they answered questions and shared insights with the participants.

In her closing message, Dr Linjun Huang, Chinese Director of the Ateneo Confucius Institute, expressed her hope that participants will continue to inspire their students through both words and actions, becoming role models guided by good values and strong dedication. She also encouraged teachers to keep improving themselves, care for their students, and help promote fairness in education and its growth worldwide.

Since 2006, the Ateneo Confucius Institute has been organizing teacher training programs and seminars for local Chinese teachers both in the Philippines and China. 

Apart from training programs, the Institute also launched the Master in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language Program (MTChnFL) in 2019, and is now offered by the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design.

All the participants who attended the two days training camp received a certificate of completion from CLEC.